


Scars

by klutzy34



Series: Jersey Skills [7]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Episode Tag, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-24
Updated: 2016-05-24
Packaged: 2018-06-10 09:07:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6949867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/klutzy34/pseuds/klutzy34
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Scars told stories and Danny’s body, over the years of a rambunctious upbringing and a dangerous profession, was a book at the age of 39.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scars

**Author's Note:**

> I originally posted this on Tumblr, then pulled it down to do a few edits that I felt more accurately reflected the events of the episode.

Scars told stories and Danny’s body, over the years of a rambunctious upbringing and a dangerous profession, was a book at the age of 39. The stories of the older ones faded into throwaway stories laughingly told after a few drinks, but the newer ones, those carried weight, lessons learned, memories that would never dim or tarnish. Those were the scars that he earned in the line of fire, the ones that came from bravery and charging into the fight, that involved loss and worry and fear. Those were the important scars. 

None moreso than the one that stood out pink against the skin on his stomach, just above the line of the towel wrapped around his waist, the hair there starting to finally grow back. Danny paused in front of the mirror, appraising the scar’s progress in the mirror, brushing his thumb lightly over it and trying to imagine the organ beneath slowly growing to become whole again. Not in a million years, when he and Steve accidentally discovered they had the same blood type one miserable Saturday evening while they discussed MMA versus boxing, did he think that would become an important factor in saving Steve’s life. 

Scars told stories and the story that scar told was one of a face so pale, a body unmoving, blood gently pattering on the floor, the pool growing faster. Danny swallowed hard and closed his eyes, drawing in a deep breath. The time between the gunfire and the landing seemed to go by in the blink of an eye and last an eternity as Danny oscillated between cop and brother, focused and terrified. Despite bluff and bravado, for seconds after the crash, the ambulance ride, the emergency room, he thought maybe Steve had used the last of his nine lives on something stupid like being shot at by a minor arms dealer. That he just might lose another brother and be powerless to stop it.

However, fate dealt him a card he didn’t expect. He couldn’t save Matty after he ran, unable to ever find a location again until they rolled that fucking barrel out and slammed it down before him. Matty, he couldn’t save him, but the moment the doctor said Steve needed a liver, Danny knew he had a second chance and there was no stopping him from taking it, to save a brother this time. In retrospect, he realized he would have fought anyone that stepped between him and Steve at that point when he knew, he knew, that it was meant to be.

Steve was alive. His brother was alive and somewhere across town, probably staring at the ocean in frustration and silently contemplating the change in his life, what it meant for his future, something not even Danny thought of in the moment.

Danny closed his eyes and rest his forehead against the mirror, sighing quietly. It was a decision made on the fly and one he would make again, over and over. He would give his life to save another in a heartbeat, any part of his family to save the people he loved. Bone marrow to Charlie, part of a liver to Steve. And, whether Steve was aware of it or not, his heart had already metaphorically been his for a few years by then.

But he was just happy to have him alive.

His fingers brushed over the scar again, his mind traveled through memories of that day, the anger, the fury, the terror, the concern, the odd calm amidst sheer panic as he did what needed to be done, made the hard decisions. His hand closed over his side and he pushed away from the mirror, blowing out a breath.

The scar would pale in time, barely visible, but the story behind it, the meaning would live vividly to the end of his days.


End file.
